Digital media usage in response to impact data

ABSTRACT

Aspects provide digital media content as a function of embedded environmental impact data. When a digital multimedia item is received, an embedded environmental impact value is decoded and the item is utilized as a function of the decoded embedded environmental impact value. Some aspects account for amounts and types of energy used in creating the item to calculate an environmental impact value for the item, and the calculated environmental impact value is embedded within digital data of the item.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/333,358, filed Dec. 12, 2008.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally describes methods, systems and devicesfor utilizing digital media as a function of environmental impact data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The production, transmission and use of digital multimedia content byproducers, consumers and other users requires the use of poweredelectronic programmable components, including computers, personaldigital assistants (PDA's), flash memory music players, gaming machines,etc., each of which in turn requires the use of electrical energy.Considered cumulatively, the use of powered electronic components inaccessing, providing, receiving or manipulating digital media requiressignificant amounts of energy. Depending on the source of the consumedenergy, such usage may also increase greenhouse gas emissions, which aregenerally believed to cause negative environmental impacts such ascausing changes in world atmospheric temperatures (“global climatechange”). Public and private initiatives are underway to identify waysto reduce the use of energy by electronic powered devices andcomponents.

Green computing has been defined as the study and practice of usingcomputing resources efficiently, and includes efforts to obtainmaximized energy efficiency from computer resources being used.Typically, technological systems or computing products that incorporategreen computing principles take into account economic viability, socialresponsibility and environmental impact. Environmental impact generallyrefers to the impact on the earth's resources from a given activity, andcalculating a given impact includes the consideration of many factors,illustratively including the use of recycled materials, power usedduring the transport and package of items, overall power use, power usedby computers which in turn used to operate a product distributionsystem, recyclability of products, presence of heavy metals in product,and carbon footprints, which are sometimes defined as a measure of theimpact of a given activity on the environment in terms of an amount ofgreen house gases produced as measured in units of carbon dioxide,though it may also contemplate the production of other impact emissionssuch as methane and hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods are provided for providing digital media content as a functionof embedded environmental impact data. When a digital multimedia item isreceived, an embedded environmental impact value is decoded and the itemis utilized as a function of the decoded embedded environmental impactvalue. Some methods further comprise accounting for amounts and types ofenergy used in creating the item to calculate an environmental impactvalue for the item, and the calculated environmental impact valueembedded within digital data of the item.

Service methods are also provided comprising deploying applications forutilizing digital media as a function of embedded environmental impactdata according to the method steps described above, for example by aservice provider who offers to implement, deploy, and/or performfunctions for others. Still further, articles of manufacture comprisinga computer usable medium having a computer readable program in saidmedium are provided. Such program code comprises instructions which,when executed on a computer system, cause the computer system to performone or more method and/or process elements described above for utilizingdigital media as a function of embedded environmental impact data.Moreover, systems, articles and programmable devices are also provided,configured for performing one or more method and/or process elements ofthe current invention for utilizing digital media as a function ofembedded environmental impact data, for example as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the methods, systems and devices accordingto the present application will be more readily understood from thefollowing detailed description of the various aspects of the embodimentstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method and system for utilizingdigital media as a function of embedded environmental impact dataaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system or device configured to enable theuse of a digital multimedia item as a function of embedded environmentalimpact data according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a device configured to enablethe use of a digital multimedia item as a function of embeddedenvironmental impact data according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a computerized implementation ofa method and system for utilizing digital media as a function ofembedded environmental impact data according to the present invention.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyschematic representations, not intended to portray specific parametersof the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typicalembodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered aslimiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numberingrepresents like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

For convenience the Detailed Description of the Invention has thefollowing sections:

I. General Description; and

II. Computerized Implementation.

I. General Description

The present application discloses systems, methods, and devices forutilizing digital media as a function of embedded environmental impactdata. FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention,wherein at 02 the amount of energy used in the creating of a digitalmultimedia item is accounted for or otherwise determined. At 04 anenvironmental impact value is calculated for the item as a function ofthe accounted energy amount, and at 06 calculated impact value data isembedded within digital data of the first item. In response to receiptof the item at 08, at 10 a receiver decodes the embedded environmentalimpact value data and as a function of the decoding decides at 12whether or not to utilize the received item (e.g. either using or notusing the received item, or another digital media item).

The present invention provides systems and processes enabled formonitoring energy-efficient production, dissemination, and useattributes of digital multimedia content, and further provides forconvenient and/or automatic digital labeling of such media (e.g. throughthe embedded impact values described above). Digital multimedia itemsgenerally comprise any combination of two or more of the followingelements: text, image, sound, speech, video, computer programs andrendering or presentment information. Each digital multimedia item isusually processed by a programmable device as a function of item file,protocol and/or format.

Digital multimedia items may encompass a variety of different fileformats and standards, and illustrative but not exhaustive examplesinclude “WAVE” audio files, a format created by IBM Corporation andMicrosoft Corporation, and “MPEG Audio Layer 3” or “MP3” music andspoken-text (e-books) files, which refers to a compression algorithmdeveloped by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany and later standardizedby the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), generally known to permitaudio files to be highly compressed and yet retain excellent levels ofquality; MPEG-1, a basic standard for video compact disc (CD) and MP3;MPEG-2, a standard for digital television set top boxes and digitalvideo disc (DVD); MPEG-4, a standard for multimedia for fixed and mobileinternet web content; MPEG-7, a standard for description and search ofaudio and visual content; MPEG-21, a multimedia framework); DivX®, avideo encode/decode (codec) format developed by DivXNetworks, Inc. basedon MPEG-4 (DIVX is a trademark of DivX, Inc. in the United States and/orother countries); XviD, an open source video codec based on MPEG-4;Overdrive™ and Kindle® digital text and e-book files (OVERDRIVE is atrademark of OverDrive, Inc. in the United States and/or othercountries; KINDLE is a trademark of Amazon, Inc. in the United Statesand/or other countries); and other digital broadcast and multimediastream formats known to one skilled in the art.

According to the present invention, each item may receive environmentalimpact determinations, ratings and labels according to algorithmsspecific and differentiated by medium type as well as by a type ofproduction of the content (e.g. through algorithms specific to each ofTV, radio, and Internet broadcast streams and files). Digital labels mayalso be digitally signed using known cryptography and signature methods,for example in order to prevent tampering or digital label forgery.

Digital environmental impact labeling may comprehend carbon footprintvalues, for example expressed as a weight of carbon dioxide determinedto be generated by the energy observations and inputs. For physical,tangible information-carrying multimedia storage media (e.g. compactdiscs, digital video discs, audio books and tapes, a flash memorydevice, etc.), impact values may be a function of the energy used by orcarbon footprints of each medium carrier required to transmit, ship orphysically deliver and/or dispose of or recycle the media, in one aspectthrough an algorithm taking into account an energy-per-medium exampleneeded to produce, transport or dispose/recycle of the medium, furtheralso including an energy per medium carrier required to produce contentof the medium. For intangible media (e.g. a radio broadcast to a radioreceiver, a streamed television program, a streamed radio program, astreamed internet broadcasting program, a streamed digital music file,etc.), an algorithm may include the energy to produce the radiobroadcast of the medium (e.g. radio broadcast tower power) plus theenergy per example of use required to produce content of the medium(e.g. 20 people were required to drive to a studio to produce the show).

Media production energy costs and other impacts may also comprehendspecific means used to create the digital content. For example,audio/video content produced by fewer people or fewer devices may beintrinsically more energy efficient than content requiring more peopleand/or devices in production or provision. Thus, one person producing adigital music or audio/visual item with a synthesizer or computerapplication may have a lower energy or carbon footprint than anotheritem created by a band of musicians playing a plurality of instrumentsor by a plurality of graphic artists each using independent mediasupplies, when the energy used for each instrument and media supply byeach person is considered. The amount of energy used by each performer,artist, producer or other content creator used to create content withinthe audio/visual music data may also be considered, e.g. energy used fortransportation to a studio, or for lodging and hotel energyexpenditures, etc. Thus, a first digital song file created by a singlemusician with a single instrument may be determined to have lessenvironmental impact than a second song recorded by plurality ofmusicians, with an embedded label of each reflecting different totalamounts of energy used by musical instruments. In another example, twostreamed or broadcast news programs may have different impact labelingvalues differentiated as a function of divergent overall productionenergy costs involved with the personal performing or executing eachprogram.

Embedded impact data may also be calculated as a function ofdissemination. In one example, a broadcast emanating from a firsthigh-power broadcast system may have a larger environmental impact thanone from a second, relatively lower-powered system, or from a thirdsystem having a comparable power usage requirement as the first butwherein some or all of the power is supplied by a cleaner orlower-impact power supplier (e.g. provided by a wind, solar, biomass orrenewable energy source supplier). Thus, according to the presentinvention, embedded impact values may also be determined as a functionof an amount of energy used by a broadcaster or other disseminatingentity to broadcast/provide a digital multimedia item, for examplewherein the type or amount of energy used in the provision/broadcast isspecified by embedded environmental impact label information.

Environmental impact calculations may vary by medium. For example, TVprogram broadcast impacts may be determined through differentcalculation methods and processes relative to those for downloaded MP3files. Illustrative but not exhaustive examples of measurable factorsuseful for calculating environmental impacts according to the presentinvention include broadcast energy consumed, renewable energydisplacements, energy required to create media, carbon offset providedby media producers, computational power used in creating, disseminatingor distributing the digital content, and other examples will be apparentto one skilled in the art.

Digital labels may comprise tags, metadata, and other digital markingdata as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, each of which areembedded directly into digital multimedia items. Digital multimediabroadcasts may embed digital labels or tags within a media stream thatgive an indication of an item's environmental impact rating or value.Additionally, if a broadcast or program is based upon or includes aparticular digital content item (e.g. an MP3 file) which comprises itsown embedded environmental impact label, the embedded data within theincluded item may be added to or otherwise used in determining andembedding a value label for the broadcast itself.

By providing consumers with access to embedded labels or other dataformats users of systems configured pursuant to the present inventionmay be encouraged to participate in energy-efficient use of digitalmultimedia and to adopt energy-efficient products. Thus, an itemreceiver is enabled to receive, use, select or reject a disseminatedmultimedia item as a function of the embedded impact data, manually orautomatically. FIG. 2 illustrates a programmable device or module 200configured to enable the use, or automatically process, digital media asa function of environmental impact data according to the presentinvention, for example as illustrated in FIG. 1 and described above. Thedevice 200 may be incorporated into a larger system (such as oneprovided by a service provider) wherein other applications andcomponents of the larger system accomplish systems and methods accordingto the present invention, or it may be a stand-alone device or module200 configured to perform each of the systems and methods describedabove. The present embodiment comprises a central processing unit (CPU)or other processing means 201 in communication with a memory 203comprising logic components that enable the CPU 201 to perform processesand methods according to the present application, as will be understoodthrough reference to FIG. 1 as discussed above. Thus, the memory 203comprises an impact determiner logic component 202 configured to accountfor an amount of energy or type of energy used in the creating (andoptionally also the dissemination/broadcast) of a digital multimediaitem; an embedding or decoding encoder/decoder (codec) logic component204 configured to embed an environmental impact value within digitaldata of the item or to decode an environmental impact value embeddedwithin a received digital item; and an action engine logic component 206configured to notify and enable an action selection by a receiving useror other entity, or to automatically take an action, as a function of adecoded embedded environmental impact value.

A power unit 205 is configured to provide operative power to the device200; examples include battery units 205 and power inputs configured toreceive alternating or direct current electrical power, and otherappropriate power units 205 will be apparent to one skilled in the art.A communication port or network link/node means (“com port”) 207 is alsoprovided and configured to receive or transmit the digital multimediaitem, as well as to the enable data and other communications with carbonoffset and carbon credit providers, and other devices, systems andmonitoring, administrative and service provider entities as may beappropriate.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in one embodiment, a device 200 is configuredby a user or provider to receive broadcast, satellite or internet radioprogramming and to filter-out or automatically omit or skip overbroadcasts having high embedded environmental impact values (e.g. thosehaving a value above a threshold setting), the device 200 presentingonly “green” stations and broadcasts (e.g. those that do not exceed thethreshold setting) to a user 218. The radio 200 may also provide noticeto a listener or other user 218 of embedded environmental impact values,enabling the user 218 to manually select to receive and use or reject agiven item as a function of the notice. For example, a green or othercolored light 220 may be triggered on the device 200 to indicate adegree of environmental impact indicated by decoding embedded labelvalue(s) of a digital multimedia item or program. An environmentalimpact logo 222 may also be provided with a device video display 224,the logo 222 a green lamp, graphic stamp or other overlaying logo oricon provided within a display of the item (e.g. overlaying an MP3 filealbum cover art display or over a displayed video file content) orotherwise embedded within a video, TV show or other program,automatically inserted into the display 224 content as a function ofdecoding embedded environmental impact data present in an item ortransmission thereof.

Embeds for digital items (or their information as formatted andpresented to a listening receiver 218) may also include distinctivesounds and audio messages 226 presented through a device audio speakeror presenting component 228 indicative of an embedded impact value. Adistinctive sound 226 may include a tone, beep or other unique soundfile played audibly to the device user 218; in one embodiment, a firstdistinctive chime 226 signifies a low-impact or green item, and a seconddifferent distinct foghorn or warning sound 228 signifies a secondhigh-impact or high-energy production item. In another example, an audiomessage 226 embedded (or retrieved or created as a function of embeddedimpact values) is played to the listener 218; for example, a recorded orcomputer-generated voice may introduce audio content by stating animpact rating or level (e.g. “this is a green-rated song,” “this is ayellow-rated impact broadcaster,” “this is a level-three program thatmay require carbon offsetting to utilize,” etc.) In this fashion, theuser 218 is presented with auditory or visual notice of the impactvalues of each offered item in order to make an informed choice inselecting and using (e.g. watching, listening to, downloading, etc.)presented items or programs having lower environmental impact values.

According to the present invention, a radio station's power rating maybe computed and impact values embedded within the station broadcastdata. Some broadcasts and broadcasters may require more power thanothers, and it is known that some low-power community stations are ableto provide program broadcasting at lower values than other stations. Inone example, a process or system according to the present inventiondetermines (e.g. at 02 and/or 04 of FIG. 1) that a first radio stationis using 250 watts of power to broadcast a signal, and accordinglyinserts or embeds (e.g. at 06 of FIG. 1) a metadata tag of “Power=250”into a broadcast stream from the first station. A radio (e.g. the device200 of FIGS. 2 and 3) configured according to the present inventionreceiving the broadcast stream parses the stream to find and decode themetadata tag “Power=250” (e.g. at 08 and 10 of FIG. 1), takes aresponsive action (e.g. at 12 of FIG. 1), which may include skipping oromitting the station from received stations presented to a listener 218,or provide a graphical indication of the station's environmental impactthrough indicator lights 220 or displays 224 so that the user 218 canmake a decision as to whether the user wants to listen to the station.Broadcast and broadcaster impact values may also reflect energy sourceand use type; for example, if wind or other low-impact energy types areused to power a first broadcast an embedded metatag “PowerType=Wind” maybe provided (e.g. at 08 and 10 of FIG. 1). In another example, a radioreceiver 200 may be configured to decode Radio Data Stream (RDS)information, which enables broadcasters to transmit additional types ofinformation via encoded digital signals within audio-video broadcastcontent that may be received and displayed by the radio receiver 200;for example, an RDS-capable radio 200 may display the title and artistof a current song as well as embedded environmental impact valueinformation in a graphic format, for example as described above andelsewhere herein.

Embedded labels may be used as automatic triggers for carbon offsettingactivities. Thus, an embedded environmental impact code in a broadcastsignal may be received and decoded by a receiver (e.g. the user orlistener/viewer's device 200 of FIGS. 2 and 3), resulting in the device200 automatically sending a carbon offset signal to a carbon offsetprovider by the receiving device, in some examples triggering a purchaseof an amount of carbon offset or a service (e.g. planting a tree to actas a carbon sink) from an offset provider by the user or a producer ofthe item, and wherein the amount of offset purchased may be determinedas a function of the embedded environmental impact value.

II. Computerized Implementation

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary computerized implementation of thepresent invention includes a computer system 304 deployed within acomputer infrastructure 308 for example as a computer or a programmabledevice such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular phone.This is intended to demonstrate, among other things, that the presentinvention could be implemented within a network environment 340 (e.g.,the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), avirtual private network (VPN), etc.) in communication with one or moreadditional computers 336, or on a stand-alone computer infrastructure308. In the case of the former, communication throughout the network 340can occur via any combination of various types of communication links.For example, the communication links can comprise addressableconnections that may utilize any combination of wired and/or wirelesstransmission methods. Where communications occur via the Internet,connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-basedprotocol, and an Internet service provider could be used to establishconnectivity to the Internet.

As shown, the computer system 304 includes a central processing unit(CPU) 312, a memory 316, a bus 320, and input/output (I/O) interfaces324. Further, the computer system 304 is shown in communication withexternal I/O devices/resources 328 and storage system 332. In general,the processing unit 312 executes computer program code, such as the codeto implement various components of the process and systems, and devicesas illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and described above, including the impactdeterminer logic component 202, the codec logic component 204, andaction engine logic component 206 discussed above, and which are storedin memory 316 and/or storage system 332. It is to be appreciated thattwo or more, including all, of these components may be implemented as asingle component.

While executing computer program code, the processing unit 312 can readand/or write data to/from the memory 316, the storage system 332, and/orthe I/O interfaces 324. The bus 320 provides a communication linkbetween each of the components in computer system 304. The externaldevices 328 can comprise any devices (e.g., keyboard, pointing device,display, etc.) that enable a user to interact with computer system 304and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enablecomputer system 304 to communicate with one or more other computingdevices.

The computer infrastructure 308 is only illustrative of various types ofcomputer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, inone embodiment, computer infrastructure 308 comprises two or morecomputing devices (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over anetwork to perform the various process steps of the invention. Moreover,computer system 304 is only representative of various possible computersystems that can include numerous combinations of hardware.

To this extent, in other embodiments, the computer system 304 cancomprise any specific purpose-computing article of manufacturecomprising hardware and/or computer program code for performing specificfunctions, any computing article of manufacture that comprises acombination of specific purpose and general-purpose hardware/software,or the like. In each case, the program code and hardware can be createdusing standard programming and engineering techniques, respectively.Moreover, the processing unit 312 may comprise a single processing unit,or be distributed across one or more processing units in one or morelocations, e.g., on a client and server. Similarly, the memory 316and/or the storage system 332 can comprise any combination of varioustypes of data storage and/or transmission media that reside at one ormore physical locations.

Further, I/O interfaces 324 can comprise any system for exchanginginformation with one or more of the external device 328. Still further,it is understood that one or more additional components (e.g., systemsoftware, math co-processing unit, etc.) not shown in FIG. 4 can beincluded in computer system 304. However, if computer system 304comprises a handheld device or the like, it is understood that one ormore of the external devices 328 (e.g., a display) and/or the storagesystem 332 could be contained within computer system 304, not externallyas shown.

The storage system 332 can be any type of system (e.g., a database)capable of providing storage for information under the presentinvention. To this extent, the storage system 332 could include one ormore storage devices, such as a magnetic disk drive or an optical diskdrive. In another embodiment, the storage system 332 includes datadistributed across, for example, a local area network (LAN), wide areanetwork (WAN) or a storage area network (SAN) (not shown). In addition,although not shown, additional components, such as cache memory,communication systems, system software, etc., may be incorporated intocomputer system 304.

While shown and described herein as a method and a system, it isunderstood that the invention further provides various alternativeembodiments. For example, in one embodiment, the invention provides acomputer-readable/useable medium that includes computer program code toenable a computer infrastructure to implement methods, systems anddevices according to the present application, for example as illustratedin FIGS. 1-4 above and described otherwise herein. To this extent, thecomputer-readable/useable medium includes program code that implementseach of the various process steps of the present application.

It is understood that the terms “computer-readable medium” or “computeruseable medium” comprise one or more of any type of physical embodimentof the program code. In particular, the computer-readable/useable mediumcan comprise program code embodied on one or more portable storagearticles of manufacture (e.g., a compact disc, a magnetic disk, a tape,etc.), on one or more data storage portions of a computing device, suchas the memory 316 and/or the storage system 332 (e.g., a fixed disk, aread-only memory, a random access memory, a cache memory, etc.).

Still yet, computer infrastructure 308 is intended to demonstrate thatsome or all of the components of implementation according to the presentapplication could be deployed, managed, serviced, etc. by a serviceprovider who offers to implement, deploy, and/or perform the functionsof the present invention for others, for example by licensing methodsand browser or application server technology to an internet serviceprovider (ISP) or a cellular telephone provider. In one embodiment, theinvention may comprise a business method that performs the process stepsof the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. Thus,a service provider can create, maintain, support, etc., a computerinfrastructure, such as the computer infrastructure 308 that performsthe process steps of the present application for one or more customers,and in return the service provider can receive payment from thecustomer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the serviceprovider can receive payment from the sale of advertising content to oneor more third parties.

In still another embodiment, the invention provides acomputer-implemented method for enabling the processes, methods anddevices according to the present application. In this case, a computerinfrastructure, such as computer infrastructure 308, can be provided andone or more systems for performing the process steps of the inventioncan be obtained (e.g., created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) anddeployed to the computer infrastructure. To this extent, the deploymentof a system can comprise one or more of: (1) installing program code ona computing device, such as computer system 304, from acomputer-readable medium; (2) adding one or more computing devices tothe computer infrastructure; and (3) incorporating and/or modifying oneor more existing systems of the computer infrastructure to enable thecomputer infrastructure to perform the process steps of the invention.

As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and“computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in anylanguage, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause acomputing device having an information processing capability to performa particular function either directly or after either or both of thefollowing: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or(b) reproduction in a different material form. To this extent, programcode can be embodied as one or more of: an application/software program,component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basicI/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and thelike.

The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations arepossible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to aperson skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scopeof the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing digital media content withan embedded environmental impact data value, the method comprising: aprogrammable device determining at least one of an amount of energy usedin creating a first digital multimedia item comprising a digitalmultimedia file on a tangible machine-readable article, and a type ofenergy used in creating the first digital multimedia item; theprogrammable device calculating a first environmental impact value forthe first digital multimedia item as a function of the determined atleast one of the amount of energy used in creating the first digitalmultimedia item and the type of energy used in creating the firstdigital multimedia item, by determining at least one of: an amount ofenergy used in providing the first item to a user; an amount of energyused to physically deliver the tangible machine-readable article to theuser; and an amount of energy used to recycle or dispose of the tangiblemachine-readable article; the programmable device encoding thedetermined first environmental impact value; and the programmable deviceembedding the encoded first environmental impact value within digitaldata of the first digital multimedia item for decoding by a receiver ofthe first digital multimedia item.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a second digital multimedia item comprising asecond embedded environmental impact value; decoding the second embeddedenvironmental impact value; determining an amount of carbon offset as afunction of the second embedded item environmental impact value; andtriggering a purchase of the amount of a carbon offset from an offsetprovider by at least one of a user of the item and a producer of theitem.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating the first digitalmultimedia item environmental impact value is an algorithmic function ofan energy used in creating the first digital multimedia item and anenergy used in providing the first digital multimedia item to a user. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the first digital multimedia itemenvironmental impact value is a carbon footprint expressed as a weightof carbon dioxide.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first digitalmultimedia item comprises music data; and wherein the calculating thefirst digital multimedia item environmental impact value comprises atleast one of: measuring a total amount of energy used by each of atleast one musical instrument to create the music data; and measuring atotal amount of energy used by each of at least one content creator increating first digital multimedia item music content data.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the tangible machine-readable article is a compactdisc, a digital video disc, or a flash memory device.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the programmable device: receiving anotherdigital multimedia item comprising another embedded environmental impactvalue; decoding the received another embedded environmental impactvalue; receiving a third digital multimedia item comprising a thirdembedded environmental impact value; decoding the third embeddedenvironmental impact value; and choosing the third item or the anotheritem having a lower value of the decoded third environmental impactvalue and the decoded another environmental impact value.
 8. The methodof claim 7, wherein the third item and the another item are streamedmultimedia broadcast program items, further comprising calculating theenvironmental impact values for the third and the another item by atleast one of: measuring an amount of energy used by a broadcaster tobroadcast the presented third and another program item to a user; andidentifying a type of energy used by the broadcaster to broadcast thethird and another presented program item to a user.
 9. The method ofclaim 8 wherein the third program item and the another program item areeach at least one of a streamed television program, a streamed radioprogram, a streamed internet broadcasting program and a streamed digitalmusic file.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: conveying thedecoded third program item environmental impact value and the anotherdecoded program item environmental impact value to the user; andoffering a broadcast of the third program item or of the another programitem to the user; and wherein the selecting the one of the third programitem and the another program item comprises the user manually selectingthe one as a function of the conveying the decoded third program itemenvironmental impact value and the another decoded program itemenvironmental impact value to the user.
 11. The method of claim 9,further comprising: illuminating an indicator lamp in association withreceiving a one of the third item and the another item that has a lowerdecoded environmental value; displaying an environmental impact logowithin a visual display of content of a one of the third item and theanother item that has a lower decoded environmental value; and audiblyplaying a distinctive sound indicative of the decoded embedded value ofa one of the third item and the another item that has a lower decodedenvironmental value.
 12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:omitting a one of the third item and the another item from apresentation of digital items to the user that has at least one of: anembedded environmental impact value that is above a threshold; and anembedded environmental impact value that is higher than an embeddedenvironmental impact value of another of the third item and the anotheritem.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: integratingcomputer-readable program code into a computer system comprising theprocessing unit, a computer readable memory and a computer readabletangible storage device, wherein the computer readable program code isembodied on the computer readable tangible storage device and comprisesinstructions that, when executed by the processing unit via the computerreadable memory, cause the processing unit to perform the steps ofdetermining the at least one of the amount of energy used and the typeof energy used in creating the first digital multimedia item,calculating the first environmental impact value for the first digitalmultimedia item, encoding the determined first environmental impactvalue and embedding the encoded first environmental impact value withinthe digital data of the first digital multimedia item for decoding. 14.A programmable device comprising: a processing unit; a computer-readablememory in communication with the processing unit; and a tangiblecomputer-readable storage device in communication with the processingunit and the computer-readable memory; wherein the processing unit, whenexecuting program instructions stored on the tangible computer-readablestorage device via the computer readable memory: determines at least oneof an amount of energy used in creating a first digital multimedia itemcomprising a digital multimedia file on a tangible machine-readablearticle, and a type of energy used in creating the first digitalmultimedia item; calculates a first environmental impact value for thefirst digital multimedia item as a function of the determined at leastone of the amount of energy used in creating the first digitalmultimedia item and the type of energy used in creating the firstdigital multimedia item by determining at least one of: an amount ofenergy used in providing the first item to a user; an amount of energyused to physically deliver the tangible machine-readable article to theuser; and an amount of energy used to recycle or dispose of the tangiblemachine-readable article; encodes the determined first environmentalimpact value; and embeds the encoded first environmental impact valuewithin digital data of the first digital multimedia item for decoding bya receiver of the first digital multimedia item.
 15. The programmabledevice of claim 14, wherein the processing unit, when executing theprogram instructions stored on the computer-readable storage device viathe computer readable memory, further presents a user with a choice ofusing a received third digital media item or another received digitalmedia item by at least one of: illuminating an indicator lamp inassociation with receiving a one of the third digital media item and theanother digital media item that has a lower decoded environmental value;displaying an environmental impact logo within a visual display ofcontent of a one of the third digital media item and the another digitalmedia item that has a lower decoded environmental value; and audiblyplaying a distinctive sound indicative of the decoded embedded value ofa one of the third digital media item and the another digital media itemthat has a lower decoded environmental value.
 16. The programmabledevice of claim 14, wherein the processing unit, when executing theprogram instructions stored on the computer-readable storage device viathe computer readable memory, further calculates the first digitalmultimedia item environmental impact value as an algorithmic function ofan energy used in creating the first digital multimedia item and anenergy used in providing the first digital multimedia item to a user.17. The programmable device of claim 14, wherein the first digitalmultimedia item environmental impact value is a carbon footprintexpressed as a weight of carbon dioxide.
 18. The programmable device ofclaim 14, wherein the first digital multimedia item comprises musicdata; and wherein the processing unit, when executing the programinstructions stored on the computer-readable storage device via thecomputer readable memory, calculates the first digital multimedia itemenvironmental impact value by at least one of: measuring a total amountof energy used by each of at least one musical instrument to create themusic data; and measuring a total amount of energy used by each of atleast one content creator in creating first digital multimedia itemmusic content data.
 19. A computer program product for providing digitalmedia content with an embedded environmental impact data value, thecomputer program product comprising: a computer readable tangiblestorage device having computer readable program code embodied therewith,the computer readable program code comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by a computer processing unit, cause the computer processingunit to: determine at least one of an amount of energy used in creatinga first digital multimedia item comprising a digital multimedia file ona tangible machine-readable article, and a type of energy used increating the first digital multimedia item, and a type of energy used increating the first digital multimedia item; calculate a firstenvironmental impact value for the first digital multimedia item as afunction of the determined at least one of the amount of energy used increating the first digital multimedia item and the type of energy usedin creating the first digital multimedia item, by determining at leastone of: an amount of energy used in providing the first item to a user;an amount of energy used to physically deliver the tangiblemachine-readable article to the user; and an amount of energy used torecycle or dispose of the tangible machine-readable article; encode thedetermined first environmental impact value; and embed the encoded firstenvironmental impact value within digital data of the first digitalmultimedia item for decoding by a receiver of the first digitalmultimedia item.
 20. The computer program product of claim 19, whereinthe computer readable program code instructions, when executed by thecomputer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to:receive another digital multimedia item comprising another embeddedenvironmental impact value; decode the received another embeddedenvironmental impact value; receive a third digital multimedia itemcomprising a third embedded environmental impact value; decode the thirdembedded environmental impact value; and choose the third item or theanother item having a lower value of the decoded third environmentalimpact value and the decoded another environmental impact value.
 21. Thecomputer program product of claim 19, wherein the third item and theanother item are streamed multimedia broadcast program items, andwherein the computer readable program code instructions, when executedby the computer processing unit, further cause the computer processingunit to: calculate the environmental impact values for the third and theanother item by at least one of: measuring an amount of energy used by abroadcaster to broadcast the presented third and another program item toa user; and identifying a type of energy used by the broadcaster tobroadcast the third and another presented program item to a user. 22.The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the third program itemand the another program item are each at least one of a streamedtelevision program, a streamed radio program, a streamed internetbroadcasting program and a streamed digital music file; and wherein thecomputer readable program code instructions, when executed by thecomputer processing unit, further cause the computer processing unit to:illuminate an indicator lamp in association with receiving a one of thethird item and the another item that has a lower decoded environmentalvalue; display an environmental impact logo within a visual display ofcontent of a one of the third item and the another item that has a lowerdecoded environmental value; and audibly play a distinctive soundindicative of the decoded embedded value of a one of the third item andthe another item that has a lower decoded environmental value.